Method and apparatus for distributing services and data

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, determining a need to provide a service to a first communication device of a plurality of communication devices, detecting a movement of a second communication device of the plurality of communication devices in a direction that will place the second communication device in a communication range of the first communication device, and transmitting a message to the second communication device to provide the service to the first communication device when the second communication device comes into the communication range of the first communication device. Other embodiments are disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/339,416 filed Oct. 31, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/621,449 filed Feb. 13, 2015 (now U.S. Pat. No.9,516,463), which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/058,767 filed Oct. 21, 2013 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,008,696). Allsections of the aforementioned applications are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The subject disclosure relates to a method and apparatus fordistributing services and data.

BACKGROUND

In wireless, and sometimes wired communication systems, a need can ariseto distribute in real-time, near real-time or in deferred time, mediacontent or other services to devices. The network bandwidth required todistribute streaming media content, device software or data updates canbe distributed in traditional unicast and emerging multicast broadcastmodes, but even then there are devices that are either served with lessdesirable link signal qualities or which are offline when an update ismade available.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication system;

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a method used in portionsof the system described in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative embodiment of mobile device users intransit that can serve as couriers of deferred services;

FIGS. 4-5 depict illustrative embodiments of communication systems thatprovide services according to the embodiments of the method of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a web portal forprovisioning devices of the embodiments depicted in FIGS. 1 and 3-5;

FIG. 7 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication device thatbe a representative embodiment of the devices of FIGS. 1 and 3-5; and

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of acomputer system within which a set of instructions, when executed, maycause the machine to perform any one or more of the methods describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject disclosure describes, among other things, illustrativeembodiments for delegating services to devices to offload networkresources. Other embodiments are included in the subject disclosure.

One embodiment of the subject disclosure includes a system having amemory to store executable instructions, and a processor. Responsive toexecuting the instructions, the processor performs operations includingreceiving location information from a plurality of communicationdevices, determining trajectories of the plurality of communicationdevices from the location information, determining a need to distributefirst content to a first communication device of the plurality ofcommunication devices, detecting a trajectory of a second communicationdevice of the plurality of communication devices that will be in apeer-to-peer communication range of the first communication device at anexpected time, and transmitting the first content to the secondcommunication device for distribution to the first communication devicewhen the second communication device comes into the peer-to-peercommunication range of the first communication device.

One embodiment of the subject disclosure includes a method forreceiving, a system comprising a processor, location information from aplurality of communication devices, determining, by the system, acollective trajectory of the plurality of communication devices from thelocation information, determining, by the system, a need to provide aservice to a first communication device of the plurality ofcommunication devices, detecting, by the system, a trajectory of asecond communication device of the plurality of communication devicesthat places the second communication device in a communication range ofthe first communication device at an expected time, and transmitting, bythe system, a message to the second communication device to provide theservice to the first communication device when the second communicationdevice comes into the communication range of the first communicationdevice.

One embodiment of the subject disclosure includes a machine-readablestorage medium, including executable instructions, which when executedby a processor cause the processor to perform operations includingdetermining a need to provide a service to a first communication deviceof a plurality of communication devices, detecting a movement of asecond communication device of the plurality of communication devices ina direction that will place the second communication device in acommunication range of the first communication device, and transmittinga message to the second communication device to provide the service tothe first communication device when the second communication devicecomes into the communication range of the first communication device.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication system 100.The communication system 100 can comprise mobile devices such assmartphones 106, tablets 108, and computers 110. Devices 106-110 canestablish communication sessions by way of wireless base stations 102scattered in multiple geographic regions. Communication sessions caninclude device to network to device communications for supporting voiceand data communications using 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G technology as the casemay be. Alternatively, devices 106-110 can engage in voice and datacommunications by way of short range base stations or routers 120 suchas WiFi routers which may be located in facilities 104 such as retailbusinesses (such as coffee shops, fast food restaurants, etc.), businessenterprises, residences, and so on.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a method 200 that can beused in portions of the system 100 described in FIG. 1 to improvenetwork resource utilization. Method 200 can begin with step 202 where aserver or a group of servers 130 such as shown in FIG. 1 collectlocation information from communication devices (such as communicationdevices 106-110 shown in FIG. 1) over one or more geographic regions(townships, cities, metropolitan areas, etc.). The servers 130 can becommunicatively coupled to the communication devices via the basestations 102, routers 120, or other network elements that can be used towireless or by wireline access the communication devices from remotelocations. Additionally, the servers 130 can be co-located or placed indisparate locations, each server managing communication devices indifferent locations. For illustration purposes only, the subjectdisclosure will herein refer to servers 130. However, it should beunderstood that less than all the servers 130 (e.g., a single server)may employ the embodiments of method 200 of FIG. 2 as described below.

Referring back to step 202, the location information can includegeographic coordinates such as global positioning system (GPS)coordinates provided by the communications device from GPS receiversembedded therein, or by way of service provider network infrastructure(e.g., triangulation), regardless of GPS capabilities of thecommunications device(s). The servers 130 can collect this informationperiodically so as to determine from changes in the location informationtrajectories of the communications devices in step 204. Trajectories canrepresent movement information such as average speed of travel as wellas direction of travel. The orientation of the devices such as compassorientation can also be collected to validate and/or predicttrajectories of the communication devices in FIG. 1.

At step 206, the servers 130 can determine a need to provide services toa particular one or more of the communication devices of FIG. 1. Forillustration purposes only, only one device will be addressed at step206 referred to herein as a first communication device. The service canbe media content (such as a streaming video), data content (such asprovisioning information, a file, etc.), software content (such asdelivery of a software update), or communication services such asproviding voice or internet communication services, and so on. Servicesin the present context can mean delivery of data of any kind orcommunication services of any kind. The servers 130 can determine theneed for services at step 206 by way of a request initiated by the firstcommunication device autonomously or responsive to user input.Alternatively, or in combination, the servers 130 can determine the needfor services at step 206 by monitoring resources of the firstcommunication device, usage behavior of a user of the firstcommunication device, or other suitable detection techniques.

At step 208, the servers 130 can determine if the need is immediate orcan be deferred. An immediate need may be a situation in which the userof the first communication device may be requesting communicationservices, and would not be willing to wait. A deferred need canrepresent a request for content initiated by the user which can bedelivered at a later time (e.g., movie for viewing at 8 pm, while theuser request is initiated at 6 pm), a software update that the servers130 determine is needed to solve vulnerability issues with thecommunication device but which is otherwise not considered urgent by theservers 130, and so on.

In one embodiment, if the need at step 208 is considered immediate, theserver 130 can proceed to step 216 and instruct a network node (e.g., abase station), which is communicatively coupled to the firstcommunication device at the time the need is detected, to provideservices (such as data distribution and/or communication services) tothe first communication device. In another embodiment, the servers 130can determine from the trajectories of the communication devicescalculated at step 204 whether there is a second communication device ata location or trajectory that places the second communication device ina communication range of the first communication device at a desirabletime to provide the services identified in step 206. If there are nodevices that can provide such services in an adequate time, the servers130 can proceed to step 216 and deliver services via a network nodecommunicatively coupled to the first communication device as previouslydescribed.

If, however, there is a second communication device that can deliver theneeded services to the first communication in an adequate time, theservers 130 can proceed to step 218 and transmit a message to the secondcommunication device to prepare the second communication device fordelivery of the needed services. The message can represent data to bedistributed to the first device (e.g., video stream, software update,files, provisioning information, etc.). The message can instead or incombination represent instructions to provide the first communicationdevice data and/or voice communication services once the secondcommunication device is in a communication range of the firstcommunication device at step 220.

The second communication device can detect it is in a communicationrange of the first communication device based on additional informationprovided by the servers 130 at step 218 such as, for example, receivingfrom the servers 130 an identification of the network node which thefirst communication device is communicatively coupled to and acommunication identifier (e.g., phone number, IP address, URI, or othersuitable identifier) of the first communication device for initiatingcommunications. Alternatively, the second communication device canreceive from the servers 130 a location coordinate of the firstcommunication device, which the second communication device can use todetermine when it is in close proximity to the first communicationdevice to perform a peer-to-peer session.

For example, when the second communication device detects the networknode communicatively coupled to the first communication device (or thatthe second communication device is near the location coordinate of thefirst communication device) the second communication device candetermine at step 222 whether to engage in peer-to-peer communicationsor utilize a local area network (LAN) such as a WiFi router 120 as shownin FIG. 1 if one is available. If the first and second communicationdevices are not close enough to engage in peer-to-peer communications,then the second communication device can attempt communications over aWiFi LAN. If a LAN is not available, the second communication device cancontinue to monitor when the second communication device is near enoughto the location coordinate of the first communication device to attempta peer-to-peer session. If both LAN and peer-to-peer communications areavailable, the second communication device can test communications oneach and assess the best delivery method based on communication metricssuch as bit error rate, latency, jitter, RF noise, signal to noiseratio, or other common communication parameters. Once communications areestablished, the second communication device can proceed to step 224 todeliver services over a peer-to-peer session, or step 226 to deliverservices over a LAN session, whichever is decided as most appropriate instep 222.

As noted earlier, the services can represent delivery of any form ofdata services, any form of messaging services, any form of communicationservices or both. Data can represent, for example, media content,provisioning information, file transfers, software updates or otherwise.Messaging services can represent, for example, SMS, MMS, instantmessaging, email, etc. Communication services can represent data and/orvoice communication services. Steps 208 and 214-226 present a proactiveapproach to alleviate traffic congestion, which can increase thebandwidth availability of network nodes such as base stations 102. Inone embodiment, steps 208 and 214-226 can be performed withoutmonitoring network conditions of network nodes.

Alternatively, network conditions of network nodes can be monitoredprior to deciding to use a courier device for providing services to thefirst communication device. Referring back to step 208, the transitionfrom step 208 to step 210 can represent an embodiment where the servers130 can be configured to perform a network assessment at step 210 whenthe need to provide services is determined at step 208 not to beimmediate. In one embodiment, network conditions can be assessedaccording to communication efficiency, bandwidth usage, and trafficcongestion, among other factors. Service providers can configure theservers 130 to compare factors such as these to corresponding thresholdsfor detecting undesirable network conditions. For example, the servers130 can measure the traffic level experienced by a network node which iscommunicatively coupled to the first communication device and comparesuch a measure to a threshold.

Traffic levels can be measured, for example, as a weighted sum of anumber of active voice calls in session, a number of active datasessions, bandwidth utilization, packet losses, and so on. If themeasured traffic level exceeds the threshold established by the serviceprovider, the servers 130 can determine at step 212 that relievingcongestion at the network node would be desirable, and therebytransition to step 214 and combinations of subsequent steps 218-226 aspreviously described to determine if an alternate courier (e.g., asecond communication device) is available to provide services to thefirst communication device.

Alternatively, or in combination, the servers 130 can be configured todetermine at step 210 a measure of communication efficiency at thenetwork node and compare this measure to a threshold. If communicationefficiency at the network node falls below a threshold established bythe service provider, the servers 130 can be configured to transition tostep 214 and combinations of subsequent steps 218-226 to determine if analternate courier (e.g., a second communication device) is available toprovide services to the first communication device. Communicationefficiency can be measured by statistical models that assess, forexample, management of resources and bandwidth at the network node.

In yet another embodiment, the servers 130 can be configured totransition from step 206 to step 210 thereby bypassing step 208. In thisembodiment, the servers 130 can be configured to always assess networkconditions at step 210 independent of whether or not the need forservices detected step 216 is immediate. When network conditions areundesirable to provide services by way of the network node at step 216,the servers 130 may proceed to step 214 and combinations of subsequentsteps 218-226 to locate alternate couriers as previously described.

FIG. 3 depicts illustrations of how the trajectory of communicationdevices carried by multiple users 302-306 can monitored and used todetermine if a particular communication device can serve as a courierthat provides services to another device.

For example, suppose the communication device carried by user 302appears to have a trajectory towards building 104, which may be anoffice building or retail store. From a prior history of travel of user302, which can be monitored from a collection of GPS informationprovided by the user's communication device, the servers 130 candetermine a probable outcome of whether user 302 will be enteringbuilding 104. If the probability is high (e.g., user has a habit ofentering building 104, which is known for providing coffee beverages,between 1-1:15 pm each day), the servers 130 may choose to target theuser's communication device as a courier for services to be provided toone of the devices (106-110) in building 104 shown in FIG. 3. Sincebuilding 104 supports a LAN via router 120, the targeted courier deviceof user 302 may choose to establish communications via the LAN unless itassesses that the quality of communications would improve in apeer-to-peer session.

Similarly, the servers 130 can assess the likelihood that users 304 and306 will cross paths. This determination can also be determined by priorhistory of travel by the users 304 and 306, or proximity in distancebetween the users and/or a determination that the users are walking on asidewalk and would unlikely walk on the adjacent street. Since in thisinstance LAN services are not available, communications would be basedon a peer-to-peer session between a select one of the communicationdevices acting as a courier device for another communication device.Also, since in this use case, the users 304 and 306 would be crossingpaths, the servers 130 would have to limit services for specific tasksthat can be accomplished quickly such as providing provisioninginformation to a target communication device, or providing smallportions of data to the target communication device. In this use case,content of a significant size can be delivered to a target device byapportioning the content in parts.

For instance, suppose the communication device of user 304 requires alarge software update. The servers 130 can choose to provide a portionof the update to one of the communication devices of users 306, which isdelivered in a peer-to-peer session. Other devices of users at adownstream location that merges with the trajectory of user 304 canprovide with other sub-portions of the software update. Suppose furtherthat the servers 130 run out of courier devices to deliver sub-portionsof the software update, but that 80% of the software update has beendelivered by the couriers thus far. In this instance, the servers 130can direct a network node (e.g., base station 102) communicativelycoupled to the communication device of user 304 to deliver the remaining20%. In this scenario although delivery was not fully accomplished bycourier devices, the reduction in use of network nodes provides for lesstraffic and higher bandwidth availability, which in turn can serve toaccommodate more subscribers on a communication network and defer theneed for additional network upgrades which can be costly to serviceproviders.

It is further noted that services as described above may be pre-paid orpost-paid services, while the service experience may be over wired orwireless devices with or without motion or movement sensing methoddescribed herein.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a first communicationsystem 400 for delivering media content. The communication system 400can represent an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) media system.Communication system 400 can be overlaid or operably coupled with thecommunication system 100 of FIG. 1 as another representative embodimentof communication system 400. Additionally, communication system 400 canbe configured to perform the service delivery techniques described bymethod 200 of FIG. 2.

The IPTV media system can include a super head-end office (SHO) 410 withat least one super headend office server (SHS) 411 which receives mediacontent from satellite and/or terrestrial communication systems. In thepresent context, media content can represent, for example, audiocontent, moving image content such as 2D or 3D videos, video games,virtual reality content, still image content, and combinations thereof.The SHS server 411 can forward packets associated with the media contentto one or more video head-end servers (VHS) 414 via a network of videohead-end offices (VHO) 412 according to a multicast communicationprotocol.

The VHS 414 can distribute multimedia broadcast content via an accessnetwork 418 to commercial and/or residential buildings 402 housing agateway 404 (such as a residential or commercial gateway). The accessnetwork 418 can represent a group of digital subscriber line accessmultiplexers (DSLAMs) located in a central office or a service areainterface that provide broadband services over fiber optical links orcopper twisted pairs 419 to buildings 402. The gateway 404 can usecommunication technology to distribute broadcast signals to mediaprocessors 406 such as Set-Top Boxes (STBs) which in turn presentbroadcast channels to media devices 408 such as computers or televisionsets managed in some instances by a media controller 407 (such as aninfrared or RF remote controller).

The gateway 404, the media processors 406, and media devices 408 canutilize tethered communication technologies (such as coaxial, powerlineor phone line wiring) or can operate over a wireless access protocolsuch as Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), Bluetooth, Zigbee, or other present ornext generation local or personal area wireless network technologies. Byway of these interfaces, unicast communications can also be invokedbetween the media processors 406 and subsystems of the IPTV media systemfor services such as video-on-demand (VoD), browsing an electronicprogramming guide (EPG), or other infrastructure services.

A satellite broadcast television system 429 can be used in the mediasystem of FIG. 4. The satellite broadcast television system can beoverlaid, operably coupled with, or replace the IPTV system as anotherrepresentative embodiment of communication system 400. In thisembodiment, signals transmitted by a satellite 415 that include mediacontent can be received by a satellite dish receiver 431 coupled to thebuilding 402. Modulated signals received by the satellite dish receiver431 can be transferred to the media processors 406 for demodulating,decoding, encoding, and/or distributing broadcast channels to the mediadevices 408. The media processors 406 can be equipped with a broadbandport to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) network 432 to enableinteractive services such as VoD and EPG as described above.

In yet another embodiment, an analog or digital cable broadcastdistribution system such as cable TV system 433 can be overlaid,operably coupled with, or replace the IPTV system and/or the satelliteTV system as another representative embodiment of communication system400. In this embodiment, the cable TV system 433 can also provideInternet, telephony, and interactive media services.

The subject disclosure can apply to other present or next generationover-the-air and/or landline media content services system.

Some of the network elements of the IPTV media system can be coupled toone or more computing devices 430, a portion of which can operate as aweb server for providing web portal services over the ISP network 432 towireline media devices 408 or wireless communication devices 416.

Communication system 400 can also provide for all or a portion of thecomputing devices 430 to function as servers 430. The servers 430 canuse computing and communication technology to perform function 462,which can include among other things, the techniques described by method200 of FIG. 2. The media processors 406 and wireless communicationdevices 416 can be provisioned with software functions 464 and 466,respectively, to utilize the services of servers 430 and thereby performin whole or in part the techniques described in method 200 of FIG. 2.

Multiple forms of media services can be offered to media devices overlandline technologies such as those described above. Additionally, mediaservices can be offered to media devices by way of a wireless accessbase station 417 operating according to common wireless access protocolssuch as Global System for Mobile or GSM, Code Division Multiple Accessor CDMA, Time Division Multiple Access or TDMA, Universal MobileTelecommunications or UMTS, World interoperability for Microwave orWiMAX, Software Defined Radio or SDR, Long Term Evolution or LTE, and soon. Other present and next generation wide area wireless access networktechnologies can be used in one or more embodiments of the subjectdisclosure.

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication system 500employing an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network architecture tofacilitate the combined services of circuit-switched and packet-switchedsystems. Communication system 500 can be overlaid or operably coupledwith communication system 100 and communication system 400 as anotherrepresentative embodiment of communication system 400. Additionally,communication system 500 can be configured to perform the servicedelivery techniques described by method 200 of FIG. 2.

Communication system 500 can comprise a Home Subscriber Server (HSS)540, a tElephone NUmber Mapping (ENUM) server 530, and other networkelements of an IMS network 550. The IMS network 550 can establishcommunications between IMS-compliant communication devices (CDs) 501,502, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) CDs 503, 505, andcombinations thereof by way of a Media Gateway Control Function (MGCF)520 coupled to a PSTN network 560. The MGCF 520 need not be used when acommunication session involves IMS CD to IMS CD communications. Acommunication session involving at least one PSTN CD may utilize theMGCF 520.

IMS CDs 501, 502 can register with the IMS network 550 by contacting aProxy Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF) which communicates with aninterrogating CSCF (I-CSCF), which in turn, communicates with a ServingCSCF (S-CSCF) to register the CDs with the HSS 540. To initiate acommunication session between CDs, an originating IMS CD 501 can submita Session Initiation Protocol (SIP INVITE) message to an originatingP-CSCF 504 which communicates with a corresponding originating S-CSCF506. The originating S-CSCF 506 can submit the SIP INVITE message to oneor more application servers (ASs) 517 that can provide a variety ofservices to IMS subscribers.

For example, the application servers 517 can be used to performoriginating call feature treatment functions on the calling party numberreceived by the originating S-CSCF 506 in the SIP INVITE message.Originating treatment functions can include determining whether thecalling party number has international calling services, call IDblocking, calling name blocking, 7-digit dialing, and/or is requestingspecial telephony features (e.g., *72 forward calls, *73 cancel callforwarding, *67 for caller ID blocking, and so on). Based on initialfilter criteria (iFCs) in a subscriber profile associated with a CD, oneor more application servers may be invoked to provide various calloriginating feature services.

Additionally, the originating S-CSCF 506 can submit queries to the ENUMsystem 530 to translate an E.164 telephone number in the SIP INVITEmessage to a SIP Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) if the terminatingcommunication device is IMS-compliant. The SIP URI can be used by anInterrogating CSCF (I-CSCF) 507 to submit a query to the HSS 540 toidentify a terminating S-CSCF 514 associated with a terminating IMS CDsuch as reference 502. Once identified, the I-CSCF 507 can submit theSIP INVITE message to the terminating S-CSCF 514. The terminating S-CSCF514 can then identify a terminating P-CSCF 516 associated with theterminating CD 502. The P-CSCF 516 may then signal the CD 502 toestablish Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication services,thereby enabling the calling and called parties to engage in voiceand/or data communications. Based on the iFCs in the subscriber profile,one or more application servers may be invoked to provide various callterminating feature services, such as call forwarding, do not disturb,music tones, simultaneous ringing, sequential ringing, etc.

In some instances the aforementioned communication process issymmetrical. Accordingly, the terms “originating” and “terminating” inFIG. 5 may be interchangeable. It is further noted that communicationsystem 500 can be adapted to support video conferencing. In addition,communication system 500 can be adapted to provide the IMS CDs 501, 502with the multimedia and Internet services of communication system 400 ofFIG. 4.

If the terminating communication device is instead a PSTN CD such as CD503 or CD 505 (in instances where the cellular phone only supportscircuit-switched voice communications), the ENUM system 530 can respondwith an unsuccessful address resolution which can cause the originatingS-CSCF 506 to forward the call to the MGCF 520 via a Breakout GatewayControl Function (BGCF) 519. The MGCF 520 can then initiate the call tothe terminating PSTN CD over the PSTN network 560 to enable the callingand called parties to engage in voice and/or data communications.

It is further appreciated that the CDs of FIG. 5 can operate as wirelineor wireless devices. For example, the CDs of FIG. 5 can becommunicatively coupled to a cellular base station 521, a femtocell, aWiFi router, a Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) baseunit, or another suitable wireless access unit to establishcommunications with the IMS network 550 of FIG. 5. The cellular accessbase station 521 can operate according to common wireless accessprotocols such as GSM, CDMA, TDMA, UMTS, WiMax, SDR, LTE, and so on.Other present and next generation wireless network technologies can beused by one or more embodiments of the subject disclosure. Accordingly,multiple wireline and wireless communication technologies can be used bythe CDs of FIG. 5.

Cellular phones supporting LTE can support packet-switched voice andpacket-switched data communications and thus may operate asIMS-compliant mobile devices. In this embodiment, the cellular basestation 521 may communicate directly with the IMS network 550 as shownby the arrow connecting the cellular base station 521 and the P-CSCF516.

Alternative forms of a CSCF can operate in a device, system, component,or other form of centralized or distributed hardware and/or software.Indeed, a respective CSCF may be embodied as a respective CSCF systemhaving one or more computers or servers, either centralized ordistributed, where each computer or server may be configured to performor provide, in whole or in part, any method, step, or functionalitydescribed herein in accordance with a respective CSCF. Likewise, otherfunctions, servers and computers described herein, including but notlimited to, the HSS, the ENUM server, the BGCF, and the MGCF, can beembodied in a respective system having one or more computers or servers,either centralized or distributed, where each computer or server may beconfigured to perform or provide, in whole or in part, any method, step,or functionality described herein in accordance with a respectivefunction, server, or computer.

The servers 430 of FIG. 4 can be operably coupled to the secondcommunication system 500 for purposes similar to those described above.Servers 430 can perform function 462 and thereby provide services to theCDs 501, 502, 503 and 505 of FIG. 5 as described by method 200 of FIG.2. CDs 501, 502, 503 and 505 can be adapted with software to performfunction 572 to utilize the services of the servers 430 as described bymethod 200 of FIG. 2. Servers 430 can be an integral part of theapplication server(s) 517 performing function 574, which can besubstantially similar to function 462 and adapted to the operations ofthe IMS network 550.

For illustration purposes only, the terms S-CSCF, P-CSCF, I-CSCF, and soon, can be server devices, but may be referred to in the subjectdisclosure without the word “server.” It is also understood that anyform of a CSCF server can operate in a device, system, component, orother form of centralized or distributed hardware and software. It isfurther noted that these terms and other terms such as DIAMETER commandsare terms can include features, methodologies, and/or fields that may bedescribed in whole or in part by standards bodies such as 3^(rd)Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). It is further noted that some orall embodiments of the subject disclosure may in whole or in partmodify, supplement, or otherwise supersede final or proposed standardspublished and promulgated by 3GPP.

FIG. 6 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a web portal 602 which canbe hosted by server applications operating from the computing devices430 of the communication system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. Communicationsystem 600 can be overlaid or operably coupled with communication system100, communication 400, and/or communication system 500 as anotherrepresentative embodiment of communication system 100, communication400, and/or communication system 500. Web portal 602 can be configuredto support the services of method 200 of FIG. 2 and enable users toprovision their communication devices to take advantage of theseservices, or to opt-out of the services if desired. The web portal 602can also be used for managing services of communication systems 400-500.A web page of the web portal 602 can be accessed by a Uniform ResourceLocator (URL) with an Internet browser such as Microsoft's InternetExplorer™, Mozilla's Firefox™, Apple's Safari™, or Google's Chrome™using an Internet-capable communication device such as those describedin FIGS. 1-2. The web portal 602 can be configured, for example, toaccess a media processor 106 and services managed thereby such as aDigital Video Recorder (DVR), a Video on Demand (VoD) catalog, anElectronic Programming Guide (EPG), or a personal catalog (such aspersonal videos, pictures, audio recordings, etc.) stored at the mediaprocessor 106. The web portal 602 can also be used for provisioning IMSservices described earlier, provisioning Internet services, provisioningcellular phone services, and so on.

The web portal 602 can further be utilized to manage and provisionsoftware applications 462-464, and 572-574 to adapt these applicationsas may be desired by subscribers and/or service providers ofcommunication systems 100 and 400-500.

FIG. 7 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication device 700.Communication device 700 can serve in whole or in part as anillustrative embodiment of the devices depicted in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 4-5.Additionally, communication device 700 can be configured to perform inwhole or in part the service delivery techniques described by method 200of FIG. 2.

Communication device 700 can comprise a wireline and/or wirelesstransceiver 702 (herein transceiver 702), a user interface (UI) 704, apower supply 714, a location receiver 716, a motion sensor 718, anorientation sensor 720, and a controller 706 for managing operationsthereof. The transceiver 702 can support short-range or long-rangewireless access technologies such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, WiFi, DECT, orcellular communication technologies, just to mention a few. Cellulartechnologies can include, for example, CDMA-1X, UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS,TDMA/EDGE, EV/DO, WiMAX, SDR, LTE, as well as other next generationwireless communication technologies as they arise. The transceiver 702can also be adapted to support circuit-switched wireline accesstechnologies (such as PSTN), packet-switched wireline accesstechnologies (such as TCP/IP, VoIP, etc.), and combinations thereof.

The UI 704 can include a depressible or touch-sensitive keypad 708 witha navigation mechanism such as a roller ball, a joystick, a mouse, or anavigation disk for manipulating operations of the communication device700. The keypad 708 can be an integral part of a housing assembly of thecommunication device 700 or an independent device operably coupledthereto by a tethered wireline interface (such as a USB cable) or awireless interface supporting for example Bluetooth. The keypad 708 canrepresent a numeric keypad commonly used by phones, and/or a QWERTYkeypad with alphanumeric keys. The UI 704 can further include a display710 such as monochrome or color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), OLED(Organic Light Emitting Diode) or other suitable display technology forconveying images to an end user of the communication device 700. In anembodiment where the display 710 is touch-sensitive, a portion or all ofthe keypad 708 can be presented by way of the display 710 withnavigation features.

The display 710 can use touch screen technology to also serve as a userinterface for detecting user input. As a touch screen display, thecommunication device 700 can be adapted to present a user interface withgraphical user interface (GUI) elements that can be selected by a userwith a touch of a finger. The touch screen display 710 can be equippedwith capacitive, resistive or other forms of sensing technology todetect how much surface area of a user's finger has been placed on aportion of the touch screen display. This sensing information can beused to control the manipulation of the GUI elements or other functionsof the user interface. The display 710 can be an integral part of thehousing assembly of the communication device 700 or an independentdevice communicatively coupled thereto by a tethered wireline interface(such as a cable) or a wireless interface.

The UI 704 can also include an audio system 712 that utilizes audiotechnology for conveying low volume audio (such as audio heard inproximity of a human ear) and high volume audio (such as speakerphonefor hands free operation). The audio system 712 can further include amicrophone for receiving audible signals of an end user. The audiosystem 712 can also be used for voice recognition applications. The UI704 can further include an image sensor 713 such as a charged coupleddevice (CCD) camera for capturing still or moving images.

The power supply 714 can utilize common power management technologiessuch as replaceable and rechargeable batteries, supply regulationtechnologies, and/or charging system technologies for supplying energyto the components of the communication device 700 to facilitatelong-range or short-range portable applications. Alternatively, or incombination, the charging system can utilize external power sources suchas DC power supplied over a physical interface such as a USB port orother suitable tethering technologies.

The location receiver 716 can utilize location technology such as aglobal positioning system (GPS) receiver capable of assisted GPS foridentifying a location of the communication device 700 based on signalsgenerated by a constellation of GPS satellites, which can be used forfacilitating location services such as navigation. The motion sensor 718can utilize motion sensing technology such as an accelerometer, agyroscope, or other suitable motion sensing technology to detect motionof the communication device 700 in three-dimensional space. Theorientation sensor 720 can utilize orientation sensing technology suchas a magnetometer to detect the orientation of the communication device700 (north, south, west, and east, as well as combined orientations indegrees, minutes, or other suitable orientation metrics).

The communication device 700 can use the transceiver 702 to alsodetermine a proximity to a cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, or other wirelessaccess points by sensing techniques such as utilizing a received signalstrength indicator (RSSI) and/or signal time of arrival (TOA) or time offlight (TOF) measurements. The controller 706 can utilize computingtechnologies such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP),programmable gate arrays, application specific integrated circuits,and/or a video processor with associated storage memory such as Flash,ROM, RAM, SRAM, DRAM or other storage technologies for executingcomputer instructions, controlling, and processing data supplied by theaforementioned components of the communication device 400.

Other components not shown in FIG. 7 can be used in one or moreembodiments of the subject disclosure. For instance, the communicationdevice 700 can include a reset button (not shown). The reset button canbe used to reset the controller 706 of the communication device 700. Inyet another embodiment, the communication device 700 can also include afactory default setting button positioned, for example, below a smallhole in a housing assembly of the communication device 700 to force thecommunication device 700 to re-establish factory settings. In thisembodiment, a user can use a protruding object such as a pen or paperclip tip to reach into the hole and depress the default setting button.The communication device 400 can also include a slot for adding orremoving an identity module such as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)card. SIM cards can be used for identifying subscriber services,executing programs, storing subscriber data, and so forth.

The communication device 700 as described herein can operate with moreor less of the circuit components shown in FIG. 7. These variantembodiments can be used in one or more embodiments of the subjectdisclosure.

The communication device 700 can be adapted to perform the functions ofthe devices of FIG. 1, the media processor 406, the media devices 408,or the portable communication devices 416 of FIG. 4, as well as the IMSCDs 501-502 and PSTN CDs 503-505 of FIG. 5. It will be appreciated thatthe communication device 700 can also represent other devices that canoperate in communication systems 100, 400-500 of FIGS. 1 and 4-5.

The communication device 700 shown in FIG. 7 or portions thereof canserve as a representation of one or more of the devices of communicationsystem 100, communication system 400, and communication system 500. Inaddition, the controller 706 can be adapted in various embodiments toperform the functions 462-466 and 572-574, respectively.

Upon reviewing the aforementioned embodiments, it would be evident to anartisan with ordinary skill in the art that said embodiments can bemodified, reduced, or enhanced without departing from the scope of theclaims described below. For example, the servers 130 can transmit amessage to the first communication device that is to receive theservices identified at step 206 of FIG. 3. The message can include acommunication identifier of the second communication and an expectedtime of arrival. The first communication device can monitor when thesecond communication device is in its communication range and initiatecommunications with the second communication device using thecommunication identifier of the second communication device rather thanwait for the second communication device to initiate communications.

Method 200 can also be adapted so that the servers 130 can instruct morethan one courier device to deliver services to the first communicationdevice, thereby increasing the probability of delivery of such services.Once the first communication device receives the needed services fromone of the courier devices, it can inform other couriers that there's nolonger a need to deliver services.

Additionally, method 200 can be adapted for broadcasting delivery ofservices. For example, a single courier device can broadcast (multicast)a software update to multiple devices at the same time for moreefficient delivery of software updates when in a communication range ofthese devices. The courier device can also provide data services tomultiple devices as a hotspot access point.

Other embodiments can be used in the subject disclosure.

It should be understood that devices described in the exemplaryembodiments can be in communication with each other via various wirelessand/or wired methodologies. The methodologies can be links that aredescribed as coupled, connected and so forth, which can includeunidirectional and/or bidirectional communication over wireless pathsand/or wired paths that utilize one or more of various protocols ormethodologies, where the coupling and/or connection can be direct (e.g.,no intervening processing device) and/or indirect (e.g., an intermediaryprocessing device such as a router).

FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary diagrammatic representation of a machine inthe form of a computer system 800 within which a set of instructions,when executed, may cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethods described above. One or more instances of the machine canoperate, for example, as the servers 130 and 430, the communicationdevices illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4-6, and other devices from theseillustrations. In some embodiments, the machine may be connected (e.g.,using a network 826) to other machines. In a networked deployment, themachine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client user machinein server-client user network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine may comprise a server computer, a client user computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a smart phone, a laptop computer, adesktop computer, a control system, a network router, switch or bridge,or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. It will beunderstood that a communication device of the subject disclosureincludes broadly any electronic device that provides voice, video ordata communication. Further, while a single machine is illustrated, theterm “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machinesthat individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) ofinstructions to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein.

The computer system 800 may include a processor (or controller) 802(e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU,or both), a main memory 804 and a static memory 806, which communicatewith each other via a bus 808. The computer system 800 may furtherinclude a display unit 810 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a flatpanel, or a solid state display. The computer system 800 may include aninput device 812 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 814 (e.g.,a mouse), a disk drive unit 816, a signal generation device 818 (e.g., aspeaker or remote control) and a network interface device 820. Indistributed environments, the embodiments described in the subjectdisclosure can be adapted to utilize multiple display units 810controlled by two or more computer systems 800. In this configuration,presentations described by the subject disclosure may in part be shownin a first of the display units 810, while the remaining portion ispresented in a second of the display units 810.

The disk drive unit 816 may include a tangible computer-readable storagemedium 822 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g.,software 824) embodying any one or more of the methods or functionsdescribed herein, including those methods illustrated above. Theinstructions 824 may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 804, the static memory 806, and/or within theprocessor 802 during execution thereof by the computer system 800. Themain memory 804 and the processor 802 also may constitute tangiblecomputer-readable storage media.

Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to,application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays andother hardware devices that can likewise be constructed to implement themethods described herein. Application specific integrated circuits andprogrammable logic array can use downloadable instructions for executingstate machines and/or circuit configurations to implement embodiments ofthe subject disclosure. Applications that may include the apparatus andsystems of various embodiments broadly include a variety of electronicand computer systems. Some embodiments implement functions in two ormore specific interconnected hardware modules or devices with relatedcontrol and data signals communicated between and through the modules,or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit. Thus, theexample system is applicable to software, firmware, and hardwareimplementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the subject disclosure, theoperations or methods described herein are intended for operation assoftware programs or instructions running on or executed by a computerprocessor or other computing device, and which may include other formsof instructions manifested as a state machine implemented with logiccomponents in an application specific integrated circuit or fieldprogrammable gate array. Furthermore, software implementations (e.g.,software programs, instructions, etc.) including, but not limited to,distributed processing or component/object distributed processing,parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also beconstructed to implement the methods described herein. It is furthernoted that a computing device such as a processor, a controller, a statemachine or other suitable device for executing instructions to performoperations or methods may perform such operations directly or indirectlyby way of one or more intermediate devices directed by the computingdevice.

While the tangible computer-readable storage medium 822 is shown in anexample embodiment to be a single medium, the term “tangiblecomputer-readable storage medium” should be taken to include a singlemedium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database,and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets ofinstructions. The term “tangible computer-readable storage medium” shallalso be taken to include any non-transitory medium that is capable ofstoring or encoding a set of instructions for execution by the machineand that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methods ofthe subject disclosure. The term “non-transitory” as in a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage includes without limitation memories, drives,devices and anything tangible but not a signal per se.

The term “tangible computer-readable storage medium” shall accordinglybe taken to include, but not be limited to: solid-state memories such asa memory card or other package that houses one or more read-only(non-volatile) memories, random access memories, or other re-writable(volatile) memories, a magneto-optical or optical medium such as a diskor tape, or other tangible media which can be used to store information.Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include any one or more ofa tangible computer-readable storage medium, as listed herein andincluding art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which thesoftware implementations herein are stored.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Each of the standards for Internet and other packet switchednetwork transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, and HTTP) representexamples of the state of the art. Such standards are from time-to-timesuperseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentiallythe same functions. Wireless standards for device detection (e.g.,RFID), short-range communications (e.g., Bluetooth, WiFi, Zigbee), andlong-range communications (e.g., WiMAX, GSM, CDMA, LTE) can be used bycomputer system 800.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments,and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all theelements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use ofthe structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparentto those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Theexemplary embodiments can include combinations of features and/or stepsfrom multiple embodiments. Other embodiments may be utilized and derivedtherefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changesmay be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Figuresare also merely representational and may not be drawn to scale. Certainproportions thereof may be exaggerated, while others may be minimized.Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated toachieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodimentsshown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations orvariations of various embodiments. Combinations of the aboveembodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein,can be used in the subject disclosure.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided with the understanding thatit will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of theclaims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can beseen that various features are grouped together in a single embodimentfor the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method ofdisclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that theclaimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited ineach claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subjectmatter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment.Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the DetailedDescription, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimedsubject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a processing systemincluding a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructionsthat, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance ofoperations, comprising: determining a first location of a firstcommunication device and a first trajectory of the first communicationdevice responsive to receiving a request for content from the firstcommunication device; predicting whether a second communication devicecapable of providing the content to the first communication device willcome into a peer-to-peer communication range of the first communicationdevice based on the first location and the first trajectory and based ona second location and a second trajectory of the second communicationdevice; receiving communication metric information according to testingof peer-to-peer communications between the second communication deviceand the first communication device; determining, according to thecommunication metric information, whether to distribute the content tothe first communication device via the second communication device; andtransmitting the content to the second communication device fordistribution to the first communication device responsive to thedetermining to distribute the content to the first communication devicevia the second communication device.
 2. The system of claim 1, whereinthe transmitting the content to the second communication device is basedin part on a determination that a traffic level of a network nodecommunicatively coupled to the first communication device exceeds athreshold.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations furthercomprise transmitting content directly to the first communication deviceresponsive to the second communication device not coming into thepeer-to-peer communication range of the first communication device. 4.The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitting the content to thesecond communication device is based in part on a determination that acommunication efficiency of a network node communicatively coupled tothe first communication device is below a threshold.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the communication metric information includes bit errorrate, latency, jitter, radio frequency noise, signal-to-noise ratio, orany combination thereof.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise sending a message to the secondcommunication device to prepare the second communication device forreceiving the content responsive to the predicting.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the predicting further comprises determining a time ofarrival based on the first location, the second location, and the secondtrajectory of the second communication device to predict whether thefirst communication device and the second communication device will bein the peer-to-peer communication range of each other.
 8. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the transmitting is performed responsive to receiving arequest to receive content from the first communication device.
 9. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the second trajectory of the secondcommunication device is based on location information received from thesecond communication device.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein thesecond trajectory of the second communication device is based ontriangulation information provided by infrastructure communicativelycoupled to the second communication device.
 11. The system of claim 1,wherein the trajectory of the second communication device is based onlocation data comprising geographic data and orientation data.
 12. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the geographic data is supplied by acoordinate sensor of the second communication device, and wherein theorientation data is supplied by an orientation sensor of the secondcommunication device.
 13. A method, comprising: receiving, by aprocessing system comprising a processor, a request for content from afirst communication device; determining, by the processing system, afirst location of the first communication device, a trajectory of asecond communication device, and a second location of the secondcommunication device responsive to receiving the request; predicting, bythe processing system, whether a second communication device capable ofproviding the content to the first communication device will come into apeer-to-peer communication range of the first communication device basedon the determining; receiving, by the processing system, communicationmetric information according to testing of peer-to-peer communicationsbetween the second communication device and the first communicationdevice; determining, by the processing system, according to thecommunication metric information, whether to distribute the content tothe first communication device via the second communication device; andtransmitting, by the processing system, the content to the secondcommunication device for distribution to the first communication deviceresponsive to the determining to distribute the content to the firstcommunication device via the second communication device.
 14. The methodof claim 13, wherein the method further comprises sending an instructionto the second communication device to prepare the second communicationdevice to receive the content responsive to the predicting.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the content further comprises one of voicecommunication services, data communication services, or both.
 16. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the trajectory of the second communicationdevice is based on triangulation information provided by infrastructurecommunicatively coupled to the second communication device.
 17. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the second communication device initiates alocal area network to deliver the content to the second communicationdevice, wherein the content comprises media content.
 18. Anon-transitory, machine-readable storage medium, comprising executableinstructions that, when executed by a processing system including aprocessor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: providing arequest for content to a network, wherein the network determines a firstlocation of the processing system and a first trajectory of theprocessing system responsive to receiving the request, wherein thenetwork provides the content to a communication device identified by thenetwork as capable of providing the content to the processing system andpredicted to come into a peer-to-peer communication range of theprocessing system based on the first location and the first trajectoryand based on a second location and a second trajectory of thecommunication device; facilitating peer-to-peer communications with thecommunication device identified by the network, wherein thecommunication device tests the peer-to-peer communications to determinecommunication metric information; and receiving the content from thecommunication device according to the communication metric information.19. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium of claim 18,wherein the network determines a first trajectory of the processingsystem based on the first location.
 20. The non-transitory,machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the firsttrajectory is compared to the second trajectory to determine an expectedtime of arrival for the processing system to be within the peer-to-peercommunication range of the communication device.